Cleansing the Wounds
by kimify
Summary: Adrien realizes that life is about choices. Had he chosen wisely at that time, perhaps things wouldn't have gone as they did. Now, his lady has been possessed and there was nothing he could do.
1. Prologue

Summary:  
Marinette suffers a depression after the disappearance of Adrien. Meanwhile a certain cat starts noticing things when it's too late.

 **Cleansing the Wounds** **  
**  
Prologue

The night sky of Paris was smeared by dark clouds that hid the bright stars like an ocean full of pearls. It was raining lightly and one could hear the pitter-pattering sound of the rain. Unfortunately, it perfectly reflected the atmosphere around a certain cat-boy and his beloved Ladybug.

He hurried to her side halfway through their nightly patrol. All night, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong with his lady and it made his ears droop down in discomfiture.

"Ladybug.. are you okay?" he asked.

There was silence. In the chill air, the vapors from both of their breath condensed into visible clouds.

His eyes shifted to a certain object held in her hands. A notebook. It was somewhat eerie to see his lady carry something else around other than her yo-yo. However, as intriguing as it seemed, he decided to ignore the object altogether and focused on the wellbeing of Ladybug.

"I'm fine." His lady said, but he was not convinced.

"I can tell you're not. Do you.. want to talk about it?"

"No," Her eyes were dark with pain and misery. Even though he could tell she was crying, his lady tried her best to hide how sad she really was. "I don't want to talk about it. It's very personal."

He sees through that mask of her. It was not difficult to notice. Because at that moment, she reminded him of himself.

He smiles at her, trying to lift the mood a little. "I understand. But, my lady.. keeping your feelings bottled up like that isn't going to help you. You know you can always talk to me about it."

She glances up at him with her gloomy eyes. "..I don't know.."

"I insist!" he kneels down beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Besides, we can't have you Akumatized now can we? What would I do without my lady around to cleanse them?"

"As if he'll be able to do that." She chuckled a little, slightly showing the characteristics he fell in love with.

She stopped sobbing, and wiped the tears off her face. "Perhaps I should talk to someone.."

He listened carefully. Her sad blue eyes look down at the city below, as thoughts drift away to a certain blonde boy. "There's a friend of mine, a classmate actually.. he's been missing for over a month now."

Ladybug waited for a reply.

Silence.

His hands trembled and something snapped in him. Suddenly, he was overridden by a sense of fear.

"Who.. who is that friend of yours?" he questioned.

There was a long pause. She hesitates. "…His name is Adrien Agreste."

His heart raced fiercely at the mention of his civilian-self. Many thoughts danced around his head and he was pretty sure he just lost one of his nine life's. The stand out thought being the fact that Ladybug knew him as his civilian self. She actually knew him. That's not all. They're even classmates.

Before he could try to connect the dots, his thoughts were interrupted.

"…Chat Noir?" Their eyes locked, she hoped for a response from her partner that would cheer her up. Even though Ladybug knew he was terrible when it came to certain.. cat puns. At the moment, she knew he was the only one who could really understand her.

"..Do you want to help me look for him?" she whispered and he felt hurt and regret on his own.

He shook his head. "…H-He's probably alright. Maybe he has his own reasons?"

Her heart sank and sad blue eyes lowered down. "At first, I thought so too. But it's been a month now! And- and…"

 _And what?_ He almost cried out.

"A few hours ago.. he's been proclaimed dead."

The last bit of smirk that had been present was completely gone now.

"What?" He cried. "I don't think that's true."

"I know you're trying to make me feel better here, but it's not helping."

"Has there been any prove yet?" he asked. Forcing himself to remain calm through all this. He wanted to burst apart. Yell at whoever came up with this outrageous rumor. He wanted to know what was going on.

His lady shook her head. "No. But nobody _just_ leaves home for over a month. He's probably taken away.. maybe he's been kidnapped. I swear I should have just.. just.. done something! It's my fault!"

"No." he assured her. "That's not true. It is not your fault."

"You don't understand!" she protested and quickly shot up. "Adrien Agreste is the boy I have always been in love with! He's.. He's.. _very_ important to me."

There was a silent chill in the air, one that crept into his body and rested deep inside his bones. Chat was so taken away by her words, he couldn't speak for a moment. When his senses came back, he realized the mess he was in.

"..I need to tell you something." He scratched the back of his neck.

But Ladybug gasped and covered her mouth. Trembling with fear as she realized her slip up. She was never meant to say that.

"I-I'm sorry!" She immediately turned around, and tried to make a run for it.

"Wait!" He rushed after her, and his hands clutched onto Ladybugs arm. Halting her.

"There's something I need to tell you! It's about that boy you just mentioned." He confessed.

Ladybug turned to look and her eyes widened as they met with his. He could tell she was incredibly scared. The usual proud and collected woman wasn't there to be seen, which was when he realized he had never seen her so vulnerable before.

Close by, a black butterfly fluttered its wings. It passed some buildings until it eventually moved straight at the girl in red. Chat titled his head, noticing a shadow passing him from the side.

"The Akuma?! Now!? Ladybu-!" he cried.

It was already too late.

The Akuma attached itself onto Ladybugs notebook and a purple butterfly-like mask glowed in front of her face. He cried for her, shook her, but in the end he couldn't get through. What else was there to do? He couldn't purify these cursed damn butterflies!

And then, a blob of dark energy instantly took over his lady. He had no choice but to back off, and helplessly moved a few steps back.

In front of him was no Ladybug. It was what had remained of her.


	2. Back to the Beginning

Notes:  
This chapter goes back to the very beginning - as the title of this chapter indicates but maybe you missed it. See, it actually starts really fluffy! Also, I'm gonna try to make more! I hope I get enough motivation for this because I always tend to not finish things after a while. So support would be the best medication :)

 **Cleansing the Wounds** **  
**  
Chapter 1  
Back to the Beginning

All Marinette had to do was grab a folded piece of paper and hope the name Chloe wasn't written on it.

She closed her eyes and reached out.

Marinette's face lightened up. Her cheeks burned red and she blushed incredibly, looking at the name written on the piece of paper in her hands.

Next to her, Alya was leaning over, having noticed her excitement. "You got Adrien, right?"

Marinette jolted upright in her seat and turned to Alya, who grinned back at her. She pressed the folded piece of paper against her lips and nod back carefully. It was supposed to be a secret after all.

"Go for it girl, this is your chance to impress him!" Alya exclaimed, nudging her.

The teacher rose up from her chair and narrowed her eyes, tilting her head in the direction of Marinette and Alya, whom quickly altered their manner upon noticing the prying eyes of their teacher.

"Remember kids, this is a surprise event. Which means things have to be kept a _secret_. You've all picked a folded piece of paper, written on it is the name of the person you've picked. Now, your assignment is to design something you think you can identify that person with. We'll be assessing the handiworks by Friday. Are the any questions?"

Chloe raised her arm, very irritated. "Can I change? I don't want this person. Besides, I don't see why this is important, unless it's Adrien of course."

"No Chloe, that won't do." Chloe grumbled while Marinette was grinning, luck was definitely on her side today.

* * *

"Alya, can you believe it?! Now I _have_ to talk to Adrien about stuff, oh my gosh, I'm so excited! Catch me I think I'm gonna fall." Marinette bounced up and down, whilst being able to stuff textbooks in her locker.

"Fall down? I don't think that's a good idea, you might get yourself hurt."

Marinette wasn't expecting Alya to develop a rather... deep voice. She turned her head and approaching her from the hallway was Marinette's huge crush.

"A-A-Adrien! Hi!" Marinette panicked, almost to the point she found herself hyperventilating. She felt a slight push from behind coming from Alya, but it happened in a heartbeat and she failed to notice it even happened.

"Hey, Marinette." He smiled back at her.

"Hi Adrien!" she repeated.

"Hey Marinette." He laughed a little, playing along.

"So, Adrien. What's up?" Alya interjected, noticing the pair silently staring at each other.

Marinette and Alya watched as Adrien thoughtfully stared at the ceiling. His mind drifted off to a faraway place until an idea of some sort flashed through his mind.

"Well.. actually, I had a question, but I think I've just remembered what it was. Thanks anyway!" That gentle smile never vanished from his face, he waved one more time and turned around to leave.

Marinette slumped her shoulders and sighed heavily. "I failed again!"

"Don't worry, you'll be able to talk to him," Alya patted her, a frown crossing her features. "although it might take some years." 

* * *

Marinette groaned and kept starting at her notebook, tapping a pen against the plastic white keyboard placed on her desk. Frustrated by the fact she hadn't progressed one bit.

"It's no use Tikki, I've been in my room for an hour and still don't know what to do."

"Don't you know lots of things about him?" The red ladybug-like creature questioned, landing on the desk in front of Marinette.

"Well," Marinette's index finger moved across the few words written in the notebook. "..I know he's a model, I know he fences, I even heard he could speak Chinese. But, that's basically all I know! I feel horrible."

"Isn't that enough? Doesn't he model a lot? Maybe you can do something with that." Tikki suggested happily.

"But everyone already knows these stuff. I want to know things he _really_ likes.. stupid things like what he does on a dazzling Saturday night, his favorite dishes. Things he's really into, you know? So I can give him something a little more personal. But I–"

Her words were cut off by Tikki, who quickly soared back into Marinette's purse. In a reflex, Marinette jolted from her seat and gazed around her room for any odd movement until her eyes landed on the ceiling door.

Someone was knocking on the door.

Marinette tensed. 'Who could it be? And how in the world did someone get on her balcony in the first place,' she thought with a questioning frown. She hesitantly climbed the step ladder to the door in her ceiling and questioned her unidentified guest.

"Hello, princess? It's me."

"..Chat Noir?" As she opened the ceiling door, two cat ears popped up inside her vision, along with an all-too recognizable grin. Marinette was honestly shocked.

"What are you– what are you doing here?!"

If it weren't for the fact she was plain Marinette, she'd honestly kick him right now. What in the world was he doing here?

Besides, Chat Noir had called her, and told her he had something else to do tonight. He wouldn't be able to help her unless it were serious. Of course she had dully agreed with that, because of the school assignment. But she never guessed his plan was to pay _her_ a visit. Marinette could only pray it wasn't because he somehow started figuring out her identity.

"I was just passing by your house and thought it'd be great if we talked some more." Chat jumped down and landed on floor below. He wiped the dust off his black jumpsuit and casted Marinette a somewhat desperate glance.

"Emm.." Marinette shifted her eyes between her notebook and Chat's feigning wistful expression. She mumbled to herself, closing the ceiling door above her and climb down the steps. "I can't let my parents see you and I don't have a lot of time. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, honestly!" He laughed, placing his hands behind his back and curiously strolling around her room, taking in every detail. "Nice room you've got here. It's all pink, is it your favorite color?"

Marinette frowned. "Yeah, it is."

"That's pretty cool." Chat responded.

Marinette leaned against a wall and smiled mockingly, watching the cat stroll around. "So does Paris' hero do this often? Randomly appearing in rooms, and just.. start a conversation about daily stuff?"

"Maybe," he stated vaguely, once again enjoying the humor of his dishonesty. "as a hero of Paris, I've got my secret plights! Can't tell them otherwise it wouldn't be a secret, now would it?"

"Well, I guess you've got a point.." Marinette mumbled.

"Hey, what's this?" He asked, looking over at a fallen photo frame on her desk, his curiosity made him lift the photo frame and turn it around.

Marinette turned red and immediately sprinted towards Chat, snatching the photo frame from his hands. However, she wasn't able to hide the picture from her partner.

"Wasn't that–" Chat looked shocked, his eyes never leaving the frame in Marinette's hand. "Adrien Agreste? Why do you have a photo of him? And why is it _framed_."

Marinette shook her head abruptly. "That wasn't him."

Chat Noir cocked his head and folded his arms, a slight smile crept on his face. "I definitely just recognized him."

To say she was stressing was an understatement, Marinette was in agony. A huge amount of heaviness bottled up in her chest.

"H-He's just a classmate of mine.."

Chat blinked, and looked around, his smile broadened. "So you just happen to have a framed picture of Adrien Agreste in your room, but none of your other classmates?"

Marinette scoffed, now glaring straight at him. "I don't know where you're going with this, Chat Noir."

"Do you have a crush on him?" He asked her honestly.

"N-No!" Marinette became very red now. She was stunned, the right words to approach the situation crumbled beneath her breath.

Chat beamed at her with a smile, "I never realized, you _do_ have a crush on him!"

Suddenly, his mind went blank, as if realizing something. However, Marinette was too preoccupied with her own inner conflicts to notice this.

"..You know, you speak as if you know him." She narrowed her eyes.

Marinette studied the expression of her partner who was surprised and had fallen silent.

"Everybody knows him. Well, a lot of people do. I've seen his advertisements lots of times, a curious cat like me would be able to spot them like no other." Chat reasoned.

"Okay, fine. I might have a slight crush on him. Happy with that? And just for your information, I'm not being obsessive or anything."

"That's okay princess. I won't press on the matter any further." He smiled at her. Then, he turned around and looked up at the ceiling door. "In fact, I'll be taking my leave. Thanks for having me, and see you around!"

"..I appreciate that, thanks." Marinette heaved a sigh, relieved that he wasn't going to look into her stuff any further. She waved him a goodbye and was left speechless.

"..Tikki, what just happened?"

A red blur shot out of her purse and started flying through her room, until it landed on Marinette's shoulder.

"Marinette, I'm not sure myself.."

"Ah, whatever I'll somehow ask him later about this." Marinette shrugged it off, walking over to her desk and sitting on the nearby chair, looking down at her notebook which was still rather blank.

Moments passed by, until something flashed through her mind. A smug grin crept on her face.

"Tikki, Chat Noir just gave me a brilliant idea!"

"What idea?"

"What if I go visit Adrien? As Ladybug!"

"You're going to visit Adrien?" Tikki repeated slowly.

"Just for a minute, I need to get some interests out of him." She paused, images of a stuttering Marinette flashed through her head. "Or not!? What if I fail to form any sentences around him? He'll immediately notice it's me!"

Tikki seemed to approve of the idea and bounced happily on Marinette's shoulder. "Don't think like that, Marinette! Everything will be fine! Remember, Adrien doesn't know it's you behind the mask. He won't associate Ladybug with Marinette. So you're free to act around him as you please!"

"You're right." Marinette nodded firmly. "Okay Tikki, I'm going to do this!"


End file.
